


Rulebreaking

by Deifire



Category: Eerie Indiana
Genre: 666 Words, Extratemporal Pocket Dimensions, Flagrant Rules Violations, Gen, Gremlins, Near Future Fic, Referenced non-graphic violence, Stealth Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 03:52:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14096628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deifire/pseuds/Deifire
Summary: Never feed them after midnight.





	Rulebreaking

**Author's Note:**

> A small while back, Froodle posted the rules for [this gremlins fiction challenge](https://eerieindiana.dreamwidth.org/1053134.html) in the Eerie, Indiana community. For some reason, I decided to see if I could break all of them in 666 words.

"Dash, what did you do?!"

The slimy green cocoon on Marshall's kitchen floor, currently blocking his way to the fridge, seemed to pulse with its own malevolent evil.

"Hey, don't look at me," Dash said from where he was perched on the counter, eating the last of the cornflakes directly out of the box. The box that was clearly labelled MARSHALL'S—DO NO TOUCH! THIS MEANS YOU DASH!, to which he was paying no attention. "I'm not the one who felt sorry enough for that thing to feed it after midnight."

Marshall clenched his hands and counted to ten. "Simon!"

He congratulated himself when his younger associate's name came out with only the slightest twinge of irritation rather than the full-throated scream that the last of his frayed nerves insisted was appropriate.

"I'm sorry, Mars. It's just that Spot was really hungry." 

He couldn't turn around to even look at Simon and the sorrowful expression that no doubt went with that tone. Marshall would just wind up consoling him, which would be wrong, given this whole mess was Simon's own fault. 

"I've been careful, but he wouldn't stop begging. And I wasn't sure it would matter, considering…"

Yeah. Considering. 

"Simon, what did I tell you before this all started?" Marshall asked.

"Not to adopt weird creatures from door-to-door salesmen from another universe?" 

"And?"

"If I insisted on adopting a weird creature from a door-to-door salesman from another universe, be sure to follow all the weird rules about its care and feeding," said Simon. "I know. I'm sorry." He broke past Marshall then and curled himself around the disgusting cocoon. "I'm really sorry, little mogwai. I hope you're okay in there. Maybe when everything resets itself, it'll be like this never happened."

Marshall glared up at his grey-haired nemesis, who was reaching one strangely-marked and probably dirty hand into _his_ box of cereal. Dash grinned. "What do you think, Teller? Now that the shrimp's already broken one rule, wanna see what happens when we introduce that thing to water?"

"NO!" Marshall and Simon shouted at him.

Dash's expression didn't change. "Admit it, Marsh," he said. "You're curious."

"No, I'm not!" Marshall practically screamed.

"Yeah, you are," said Dash, sounding smug. "Give it a few more cycles. You'll break."

Marshall felt his hand curling into a fist. He turned and stormed out the kitchen, knowing that if he didn't, he would just wind up taking a swing at Dash. Which would make Simon upset. Which would just lead to everybody having the same argument for the eleventh cycle in a row. He slammed open the front door and was about to storm outside when he saw the garbage truck at the end of the street. He slammed it shut again and stormed up to the attic instead.

Thirty-seven days. Thirty-seven repetitions of the same 24-hour time loop since Eerie had entered this extratemporal pocket dimension. It was probably inevitable something like this would go wrong. Maybe Spot would be okay when things reset. It had worked for for Marshall and Dash's various cuts and bruises, after all. Even Dash's broken arm from Cycle #28, when Marshall had shoved him off the roof.

Marshall sighed. He should have gone outlet shopping with his family. Then he would have been outside Eerie when this happened, and not trapped here with his best friend, his best friend's stupid pet, and the worst person on earth. Trapped in this house most of the time, because when they stepped outside, the garbage men would hunt them down.

Maybe Spot was the key. It had shown up just days before things went really weird. Maybe they should wait and see what was going to come out of the cocoon.

And if that didn't work, maybe they should try water.

Or maybe Marshall shouldn't let Dash get to him. Instead, he'd wait here until next cycle, when the World O' Stuff's shelves replenished themselves and it would be worth risking his life for more cornflakes.


End file.
